For The Beer!
by DemonSword09
Summary: Cana's bar tab has finally hit the point where she is no longer allowed to purchase any alcohol until her 15,000,000 is paid off. No one is willing to go with her on missions besides some unsuspecting rookie. Destined to become the greatest team ever known, yet formed off one member's unsavory drinking habits.
1. Chapter 1

Chapter One: Unofficial Mission

"Mira. another beer please." A tall, slim, young woman with an ample bust and tan skin called out as she set her tankard on the table with the drunken grace that matched the god of wine himself. She had long, mid-back length brown hair, and two shoulder length strands framing her face. The woman went by the name of Cana Alberona and she was watching the ongoing brawl between, well, everybody. To be frank it was quite annoying as all the young mage wanted to do was enjoy her alcohol in peace.

The shorter bartender that went by the name of Mirajane wordlessly replaced the empty glass with a full one. A deep frown on Mira's face as she thought about how to break the news to the girl in front of her. She had just finished cleaning out the tankard in her hands when a clink sounded on the counter in front of her. "Mira another beer please."

Unlike last time the cups were not exchanged however and took the same empty cup from before and started to drink from it only to find it empty.

"Mira." Cana called, vying for her attention.

"May I please have another beer." The wizardess asked again.

"You can't." Makarov, an imposing man that stood at only three feet high chimed in, saving Mira from direct fire as he literally hopped up onto a bar stool, his small stature prohibiting him from sitting like a normal being. His height was just proof that looks really don't matter. Despite his dwarfism and elderly age, the midget beside Cana was the fifth most powerful man in the world and leader of the Fairy Tail guild, one of the more prominent guilds ever established. Yet even he was the slightest bit tense on Cana's reaction.

"What do you mean I can't?" She asked angrily, someone was messing with her and her booze and she was not liking it one bit.

"Young girl, do you know just how much you owe the Fairy Tail guild?" Makarov questioned.

"Just put it on my tab, I'll pay it back later." Cana responded rather hotly.

The guildmaster pulled out a manilla folder from seemingly out of nowhere and flipped through it. "Ahh yes you're tab, that is what seems to be the problem, right now you owe 15,000,000 in jewels to the Fairy Tail guild, and I am sorry but you just don't have enough to cover it so I am cutting you off until you can pay me and the guild back

"I do not drink that much!" The wizardess said, trying to defend herself.

"It says here you are responsible for over a third of all alcoholic beverages served at the bar." He deadpanned.

"Well. Everyone else are just lightweights." She grumbled, heat rising in her cheeks.

The elderly man chuckled. "Either way, until your debt is paid off you are cut of from all merchandise Fairy Tail related besides your dorm. I on the other hand can drink all I want so Mira, a beer please!" Makarov shouted only to find her missing from behind the bar. The two scanned the guild hall, one in need and one in curiosity as they looked for the resident bartender.

They located her at the same time in the center of the room stamping two of the new recruits Natsu had dragged in today. One, a girl with brown eyes and shoulder length blonde hair tied in a blue ribbon and pushed off to the side of her head. Makarov and Cana watched as the stamper was removed and the pink Fairy Tail logo appeared on the back of her hand. Mira then turned to the other, a male. There was a slight pause between Mira and the newbie and Cana assumed that the boy was just asked where he wanted the stamp to be. Finally the young boy rolled up his arm sleeve to show a tattoo of a trident and three score marks under it, the boy pointed right next to the trident, above the score marks yet under the big black letters SPQR. When the stamper was removed it showed the mark to be a jet black matching his hair. Subconsciously Cana looked down to her stomach at her Fairy Tail mark, the same color as his. Although not covered by her clothing, which was really just a blue bikini top and a pair of capris.

She looked back up to see the boy being dragged over by the girl in the direction of Natsu and the request board. As Mirajane, no longer worthy of the nickname Mira since she cut her off, made her way around the bar she gave Cana a nervous smile, to which she returned with a growl. As the white-haired girl served Makarov his booze Cana began to steel her nerves at thought of addressing such a large crowd. She could already feel the buzz wearing off from her previous drinks before her rather recent prohibition.

Standing up on her barstool Cana looked down at Makarov with a glare, he responded by staring her in the eyes and taking a lingering sip of his beer. Taking a deep breath to restrain herself from attacking the guildmaster she closed her eyes and reopened them, only to find most people already gathered around her, Natsu and the two newbies in front of everybody, all ready to listen in on whatever announcement she was going to make.

"I am going to be starting missions again." Cana began. "I need companions to join me and I am willing to split the pay equal ways, anyone who wishes to join me step forward."

She watched in minor disappointment and a little hurt at everyone in the guild hall took a step back. The only ones that didn't move were the two most recent Fairy Tail members who clearly had no idea what was happening.

This quickly changed when Natsu reached forward and yanked the girl back by the collar eliciting a 'eep' from her and leaving the boy alone as the only candidate. She looked into his unyielding green hurricanes he called eyes and tried to get a read on him to see if he was any good, only to fail.

The boy looked back at the crowd, as if to finally realize what had happened, then at Cana who was up on the barstool, then back at the crowd, then back at Cana.

"Uhh, hi?" He said.

Cana took her seat and slammed her head on the counter. A loud groan exiting her mouth, she was never going to drink again.

-X- Current Debt: -15,000,000

Percy unfortunately understood the situation he was in quite well. If this was school dodgeball the black haired demigod was the runt that nobody wanted on their team and the brunette bombshell beside him was the bully that nobody wanted to be with because they were all too scared. Percy wasn't really too concerned though, if he could survive Tartarus, Gaia, Kronos, transported to alternate dimensions etc, etc… Then he was pretty sure that he could handle a female with a slight drinking problem, as the others so kindly put it.

"So Percy, you got any money?" Cana asked after the two had introduced themselves, Makarov sitting behind her as he and the female mage watched the demigod fiddle with a leather necklace and stare into the oak countertop like it held the answers to the world.

"Hm? Oh I only have a couple of jewels sorry." Percy said, pulling a very crumpled ten dollar bank note out of his pocket and placing it on the counter, which Cana immediately snatched up.

The old man, Makarov spoke up from behind his new 'partner'. "No need to leech off your guildmates Cana, I'll let you have this one on the house." He said as he gently took the money out of Cana's hands and gave it back to Percy and motioned the barmaid over. "Would you like anything to drink Percy, was it?"

"No, I don't drink." Percy responded a little dejectedly, his first friends Natsu and Lucy had already left him. Leaving for the Everlue Mansion and stranding him alone with his new 'partner' who apparently everyone feared.

"Pansy." He heard the girl mutter under her breath.

"Hey!" Percy replied indignantly. "Just because I am not old enough to drink doesn't mean I am a pansy!" Assuming that the drinking law here was 21 just like it was back home.

This caused both the guildmaster, barmaid (whose name he already forgot) and Cana to all look at him in confusion and the slightest bit of shock.

"Just how old are you?" His 'partner' asked, narrowing her normally large brown eyes.

"17."

Everyone seemed to look a little relieved at that information. "Well I don't know where you come from, but here drinking age is 15, so drink up." Cana countered as Mira, that's her name, poured him a drink without it being requested.

Percy looked down at the brown frothing liquid with poorly disguised disgust, this stuff had literally destroyed Gabe, made him lose his job, become uncontrollable of his own actions, and why he was in no way defending the fat oaf, he knew that alcohol played a big part of it. This was part of the reason his life was miserable, why his mother had been hit before, and he'd be damned if he'd follow in his footsteps. "You're right, I am a pansy, take it." He relented, pushing the beer her way.

Makarov chuckled lightly into his drink and Cana, who had already finished her first was inhaling Percy's like it a fish would water.

"How come my dad hasn't come back yet?" A voice called out from behind Percy, causing him and the two he was facing to look back at the speaker. He couldn't have been more than eleven years old, his eyes filled with worry and fear as he looked up to the still smaller guildmaster who was seated on his chair.

"You're starting to work my nerves Romeo!" Makarov snapped. "Your a wizard son so wait patiently and he will return.

"But he said it was a three day job, and he's been gone for a week!"

"Listen here little boy, your father took a mission on Mt. Hakobe and he is fully capable of taking care of himself. So why don't you go home, have some milk and cookies and wait like the rest of us."

"I hate you!" Little Romeo exclaimed, socking the guild leader in the face before running out the door.

The guild was awfully quiet at that point as everyone took a moment of silence to pity the poor boy. Cana, whose liver was made of iron had felt the buzz already fade away from her two drinks and was sober for the first time in a very long time. She couldn't help but feel the same way that the boy felt, having her father leave before birth just so he could keep adventuring. In a surprisingly mature and unaltered state she made the executive decision that she could take out two birds with one stone, go to Mt. Hakobe and see just what skills the rookie had as well as find Romeo's father and bring him back.

"Hey Prissy, follow me." She demanded as she began to head for the door.

Prissy, sorry Percy, merely shrugged his shoulders and stood up, jogging to catch Cana's retreating figure, when Percy got to her side he asked her a question that made her snap at him.

"Do you have a sister named Clarisse?"

"Clarisse? That sounds like a fat old lady's name." She deadpanned.

The first unofficial recruit of Team Cana laughed out loud, as if she had just told the funniest inside joke of the century, his laughter eventually got Cana's snarl to fade and even she cracked a smile, just finding it funny that he found it so funny. The two continued down the streets of Magnolia in the direction of Mt. Hakobe, this sun shining off their backs causing them to chase after their shadows. Team leader Cana kept pestering him to find out what was so funny but Percy refused to crack.

Maybe this kid wasn't so bad after all.

"Do you think Cana's leaving has something to do with Gildarts master?" One of the lesser known Fairy Tail guild members asked Makarov, referring to Cana and her dad who left her.

"No doubt my dear boy." Makarov responded, taking a sip of his beer. "I feel she sees herself in little Romeo and doesn't want him to feel the way she does."

"Going after Macao isn't going to do anything except hurt his pride." Another guild member shouted out, drawing cheers of agreement from others who were listening in.

The efforts were soon quieted by the dwarf guild master and his wise sounding words. "Remember men, we cannot chose another's path, just let them be."

A man with buck teeth snorted into his glass. "I just feel bad for the new kid, poor boy's probably getting his ass chewed out right now!"

That caused tensions to drop and a round of laughs exploded throughout the hall, even the guildmaster sporting a smile.

-X- Current Debt: -15,000,000

The trip up wasn't too bad, the duo had rented a carriage to take them to the summit, having no specific idea as to where Romeo's father, Macao was. Percy kept himself occupied by playing a drum solo in his head, using the ever faithful Riptide in one hand and his index finger on the other side. Cana was complaining about having a headache, probably her first time being hung-over ever, every little bump they hit on the road eliciting a groan from the brown haired girl. It wasn't long until she snapped.

"Would you stop that drumming, its killing me!" Cana yelled, her over sensitive ears picking up every little tap Percy made.

With the roll of his eyes, Percy gave the writing utensil a final twirl between his fingers before stuffing it in his pocket. "Whatever you say 'daddy issues'." He retorted.

In less than an instant all senses of vertigo had left the female mage's body and she had closed the distance of the two benches immediately, grabbing the collar of Percy's shirt and pulling him level with her eyes before slamming him to the side of the carriage, causing it to shake. "What did you just call me?" She asked threateningly.

"Uhhh, nothing?" Percy asked, trying to remedy the situation he had put himself in, wondering why she was so offset at a joke. When Mira was introducing him to some of the more prominent members she had glance over briefly that Cana's father had left her before she was born, and Percy suspected that it was the reason they were even taking this job in the first place. But so many demigods could go their entire lives without meeting one of their parents and still didn't have this type of reaction. This clearly was an issue that needed to be handled with care in the future.

"Listen bud, let me set some ground rules for ya. You have no idea what me or my mom went through okay, so shut up. And I don't want you ever talking about how great Gildarts is either, you got that.?"

On the inside Percy was holding in a snort, 'You have no idea what me or my mom went through?' hah, he lived it, he knew it better than most. Hell, Percy only met his father when he was twelve because his father needed something from him to prevent a civil war, not exactly fatherly love if Percy said so himself. As he said before, the life of a demigod was living with only one parent, no exceptions, laws older than the gods themselves made sure of that. Regardless of these facts, Percy wasn't the kind of guy to tell someone he just met to fuck off so he just nodded his head. "I understand, I'm sorry."

Whatever response Cana had waiting for him was cut off by the elderly looking man who served as their driver. "I'm sorry but I cannot go any further." He said.

This caused the two to break up and look at the old man. Cana, still angry at Percy had a heated glare and Percy himself was just busy fixing himself from Cana's roughing. With a nod Cana turned and stormed out into the storm clad only in a bikini and capris. The black haired demigod ran a hand through his unruly hair as he wondered how he got into this mess.

"Relationship problems?" The driver asked, referring to the earlier incident.

Percy's eyes went open as he waved his hands side to side. "Oh gods no!" He exclaimed causing the driver to laugh. "I barely even know her. Anyways thanks for the ride." He finished with a wave as he slung his bag over his shoulder and stepped out into the harsh slopes of Mt. Hakobe, the temperature causing him to flip his hood up on his sweatshirt to keep out the biting cold.

"So now what?" Percy asked as he watched their only mode of transportation disappear through a veil of snow, Riptide once again finding its way out of his pant pocket and into his hand as he danced it around his fingers.

Cana snorted, her hostile mood gone for now, and replaced with her usual 'I am greater than you' attitude. "We look for Macao." She said as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. With those words she began to trudge through the snow and towards the summit of the mountain. Once again Percy resorted to shrugging his shoulders and following his leader, having no better idea at the moment.

One hour later…

The fearless Team Cana had taken a break from venturing cluelessly through the white. Percy sighed as he watched Cana essentially freeze herself to death in the knee high snow, he had offered her his sweatshirt at least ten times already but the stubborn girl always refused. I mean seriously, who the Hades wears a bikini top to a snowy mountain. Having enough he took the pitch black sweatshirt off himself and literally shoved it into Cana's chest, revealing his skin tight black t-shirt, matching black jeans and boots to complete the set, even black tattoos in SPQR and his Fairy Tail one on the same arm. All this black and people that knew him back on Earth would have thought he was turning into Nico.

"Wear it, you need it." Percy all but commanded as she tried to hand it back to him.

Cana, while she didn't want to admit it was very grateful for the protection against the cold. It was foolish of her to go in such skimpy clothing but her pride rejected any help from the newbie until it was literally forced into her hands.

If Cana said Percy didn't have a surprisingly remarkable figure underneath those baggy pants and sweatshirt, she would have been lying through her chattering teeth. His body was chalked full of muscles, so much it looked as if it was cut from solid marble. All lean muscle, the biceps were big but not to the point she found it disgusting like a body builder's, the exposed flesh she could see, which was just his arms, were riddled with scars, some big, some small but it made her question just what he had been through. The rookie even had freaking eight pack, something Elfman and all his manliness couldn't claim to have. No, the rookie was definitely hotter than Loke, who was often considered the most eligible bachelor of all of Fairy Tail.

Percy caught Cana staring at him after a while, making him feel a little self-conscious. "Is there something on my shirt?" He asked looking down, causing Cana's blush to fade and for her to roll her eyes as she began to put his sweat shirt on.

The black haired demigod chuckled as he watched his fearless team leader struggle to put on the clothing article he had given her, he figured that the exposure had just numbed her body to the point she had trouble moving and that was why it was stuck around her head and she was muttering enough profanities to put some of the most hardcore of sailors to shame.

"Stop laughing and help me Prissy!" Cana exclaimed over the howling winds.

"Alright, alright." He relented as he made his way over to her, only to pause midway.

"Well, I'm waiting." Cana said, her voice muffled through the blue fabric.

She went ignored as Percy stood there, doing a full 360 of his surroundings, there was something in his gut telling him that they were not the only ones on this mountain and whoever or whatever else was was close nearby. His sword hand had the pen form of Riptide in it and it hovered over his left wrist wear his shield watched laid.

"So am I." He muttered, too low for Cana to hear.

"Hello? Earthland to Percy, are you there?" She yelled, getting frustrated as she had no idea as to what was going on. "Fine. If you won't help I'll do it myself." Cana finally concluded as she began to struggle again.

Maybe he was just paranoid, Percy concluded as he pocketed his pen. The second he did so however his instincts flared up as he snapped his left hand over his head and pushed on the timepiece. The sound of shifting metal could be heard and where the watch once sat upon his wrist was replaced with a bronze shield the size of Percy's abdomen. On it were depictions of the demigod's quests and adventures with his friends Annabeth and Grover the satyr. He grunted as he felt a massive weight put upon it that forced him to a knee. It only lasted a second however as the unknown offender used his shield as a springboard and catapulted itself in the direction of Cana where it picked her up before running off into the snowstorm shouting.

"Woman! Woman! Woman!"

All of this happened in less than a second and Percy could only watch in awe as Cana was carried off by some sort of yeti-ape hybrid. His sword and shield that were once out and primed for battle now hung loosely at his sides.

After a moment of silence the only thought that came to mind was. "What is Apollo doing on Mt. Hakobe?" The demigod joked to himself with a dry chuckle before running after the ape and his teammate.

-X- Current Debt: -15,000,000

"Hold still you stupid ape!" Cana shouted as she stood in the middle of an icy cave at the summit of Hakobe, throwing her near limitless supply of shuriken cards. She, ironically enough had an easier time slipping on the black sweatshirt while being carried by a vulcan rather than on solid ground and now Cana was much warmer and had no movement restrictions like said sweatshirt being tangled around her head.

Regardless of these bonuses the ape was just too fast jumping around the icy confines of the cave with a grace no beast that size should have. Cana had a suspicion that it was really Macao stuck under a possession spell due to its pervy nature. Well that and if it wasn't than he was most likely dead already and that wasn't something she wanted to think about, so the vulcan HAD to be him deep down inside, for Romeo's sake.

The Fairy Tail mage needed to change tactics and quick or else she would have no shot at defeating the Vulcan.

"You like women." Cana grumbled. "Well. Here. You. Go." With every word she had thrown down a 'sexy lady card' from her deck, having four cards in total laying on the icy ground portraying a curvaceous woman in a skimpy bikini. The four women that were drawn on the cards came to life from them, and began to surround the vulcan who was now standing still, entranced not by the sight of one mage, but rather four bombshells in bikinis.

They surrounded the ape and began to rub him, the vulcan was steaming so bad he actually melted the ice around him as the girls slid their bodies up and down him. Meanwhile Cana prepared her 'Card Dimension' card, one that could trap others in a dimension inside the cards themselves, all she needed was a stationary target. The plan was to trap the vulcan, bring him to Fairy Tail, then find out a way to reverse the possession spell, piece of cake.

Of course something would go wrong though.

"Hey Beefcake!" A familiar voice shouted from the entrance of the cave, drawing the attention of both Cana and the vulcan. What they saw was a charging Percy with a bronze shield raised out in front of him, on it were depictions of what looked like a younger him, some girl and some sort of half-goat boy with shaggy legs and horns on his head. The three were all over the shield, fighting monsters she had never even seen before in all her years on Earthland.

The vulcan shrugged off the bikini wearing women off of him and slid them behind his broad ape-like chest. "Stay 'way from my woman!" He roared in a primal rage, both the demigod and vulcan were screaming their own battle cries before collision, Cana could only watch in shock and fear as her entire plan went down the drain.

The vulcan, with his superior height and arm length struck first, Percy however did not break stride and ducked under a swing that would have knocked his head off his shoulders like a baseball on a tee. Closing the gap with a final step he pushed off with all his might and grit his teeth as the demigod's shield smashed into the vulcan's chest knocking him on his ass with enough force to send him sliding into the inner walls of the cave. Where upon impact a large rock fell lose and landed on his head, knocking the vulcan out cold.

"See you in Hades, biatch." Percy taunted as he performed a mini victory dance on the exact spot where the vulcan's arousal had melted the ice.

His parade was rained on when the 'sexy lady' cards had made the conclusion on their own that Percy was now the enemy and began to hold him down and rub him sensually.

"Hey stop it! Let go of me!" Percy shouted followed by a serious scold at one of the giggling girls who got too friendly. "Do not touch me there!"

His cries of discomfort were what brought Cana out of her stupor. She quickly withdrew her 'Card dimension' card before she accidentally sucked up Percy into the card's pocket dimension, although that would have been quite the sight to see. Cana made to return her 'sexy lady' cards but ultimately decided to wait a little longer, the demigod's wails of agony rang through the cave like music to her ears.

"Cana! Help me!"

"No! This is what you deserve after you claimed I had 'daddy issues'!

"But-" Whatever Percy was going to say next was interrupted when he saw a harsh white glow emanating from the spot where the vulcan crashed into the wall. Riptide, who must have been tired from going from pocket to hand and back again so many times was in his hand once more, cap flicked off and three feet of lethal celestial bronze levelled in the vulcan's direction.

The light however kept growing, so bad to the point that Percy could no longer bear to even keep his eyes open. After what felt like agonizing hours of torture the light had finally dimmed. The black haired demigod had opened his eyes yet remained planted where he was as he shook his head and blinked rapidly to get rid of the spots dancing through his eyes.

Cana fared much better, the second the white light had retreated to the man under the rocks, she had took of running in his direction, hoping and praying that it was Macao who was just released from the vulcan's possession spell and not some stranger. The brunette slid to her knees and began clearing out the rocks, in the back of her mind she wondered just how strong Percy was to knock a vulcan of that size on its ass and have it slide into the wall at such a force that these many rocks would fall. Though she would never admit it, Cana was glad that he was the one who 'volunteered' instead of someone weaker.

Even if he was a blundering idiot.

"Percy get over here and help me!" She snapped in desperation, for Cana knew there was only so much a unconscious man could take while trapped under boulders this size.

"I thought the ape-thingy was a bad guy?" Percy asked, still disoriented by the blinding light as he stumbled his way over to the crash site, the 'sexy lady' cards being surprisingly helpful in this instance as they guided him to his destination. With a final shake of the head the demigod cleared his vision and dropped to his knees, pushing his current questions aside and trusting Cana's much more experienced judgement in this world's matters as he began to clear the boulders away.

Finally the duo had manage to completely clear the body from the wreckage to reveal a man laying where the vulcan previously was, he had slicked back dark blue hair, a firm, rectangular face, and a strange resemblance to that little boy that had come in earlier complaining about his missing dad.

"Wait, is this that kid's dad?" Percy asked in surprise, coming to the realization on his own.

"That kid's name was Romeo and yes, this is his father Macao, now stop gawking and help me pull him out."

The two moved the single father out with surprising co-operation, both trying their best not to jerk around Macao too much lest he become more injured, then the weight was then given solely to Percy, as she reached for the bedroll on his back, and pulled out a blanket which she laid on the icy floor.

Gently Percy laid the man down, and began to go over his wounds, years of demigod survival had proved that either Percy and his friends were a lot tougher than most, or he knew how to wrap a mean bandage and care for the injured with what little he had.

Hopefully the answer was a little of both.

First thing that stood out? A massive gash on his forehead the length and width of Percy's index finger, that was presumably where the boulder had fallen on him. Sighing he got to work, opening his pack and taking out gauze, a hand towel and a small bottle of disinfectant. Unscrewing the cap he poured a little bit of the hydrogen peroxide in the cut before dabbing it out and cleaning the wound with the hand towel. Percy then unraveled a little of the gauze.

"Hold his head up for me?" He asked, as Cana could only nod, dumbfounded by his medical knowledge, a man who didn't even know the drinking age for Pete's sake was out here looking like a professional doctor. And more importantly why did he pack all of this stuff, the trip shouldn't have been more than half a day and she remembered telling that to Percy specifically.

"Why did you bring all of this stuff?" Cana asked. "I told you we would already be back by nightfall."

Percy had finished dressing Macao's head and rubbed the back of his own sheepishly. "It's just, me and adventures have a really bad track record, the short ones seem to be longer than they should and the long ones even longer, on top of that just about nothing will go my way and I wanted to be prepared so Makarov let me borrow a few items before we left."

His response was met by an unnerving silence and a blank stare causing Percy to blush and go over the rest of Macao's body. A few new-ish cuts here and there that he may have gotten fighting the vulcan before possession but nothing to life threatening.

Oh, there was also a bruise on his lower left rib cage.

Like a really big bruise.

About the size of a shield.

Wonder how that got there.

Percy inspected the super totally mysterious mark and prodded it with his finger. The best case scenario was that it was only a minute fracture and the worst case scenario was that he had one maybe two broken ribs and he would be in a lot of pain when he woke up.

he raven haired boy winced as he let the older man's shirt cover the bruise back up. He hadn't meant to hit the man that hard, it was meant for the vulcan who had abducted Cana. But even then it looked a little overkill, Percy was just trying to protect Cana, her being one of the first 'friends' he made in this world, the others being Lucy and Natsu but they were on his bad list for leaving him alone with Cana. Here he had a blank slate and he was trying keep it that way as far as loses went.

He took a look outside the cave entrance, seeing the snow come down even harder along with the already low visibility at night and the fact that the two would have to carry an unconscious man the entire way down Percy called for an executive decision of his own. "We'll camp here for the night, I have some food in my bag if you want some, I'm going to see if I can scrounge up some firewood for us." The demigod didn't wait for the complaint that was no doubt going to come out of Cana's mouth as he was already out the door and into the frigid snow, wearing only a t-shirt and some jeans.

-X- Current Debt: -15,000,000

Small tears rolled down Percy's cheeks as he stared into the fire, allowing himself to break down only in the presence of an unconscious man he's never met and a sleeping girl whose rude attitude would give the Ares cabin a run for their money. The same image appeared in his mind over and over again ever since his first moment of consciousness on this foreign planet.

A marble statue of his likeness stood on Half-Blood Hill, separate from both the Athena Parthenos and Thalia's tree where the glittering Golden Fleece hung in the branches as Peleus the dragon coiled himself around the trunk.

His own memorial had dozen of flowers placed by it, ranging from roses to white carnations. A blonde figure was on her knees, placing a large bouquet of Centaurea cyanus (i.e. Blue flowers) at the foot of his pedestal, every once in a while a heavy sob would rack her body, causing his heart to break just a little more. A little ways behind stood a bespectacled man his age in a purple shirt, blonde hair similar yet much different than his Annabeth's honey blonde curls.

No more words were spoken or noises uttered in the following events. The son of Jupiter closed the distance between himself and the daughter of Athena, sitting his rear down on the wet grass next to her. She leaned her head on his shoulder, and an arm went around her own in comfort, the actions the two had for each other spoke more than any words could have.

Everytime those images played back in his mind, the same three questions followed.

What the hell happened to him?

Where the hell was he?

And what the hell was Jason doing with his Wise Girl?


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter Two: First Impressions**

 **-X- Current Debt: -15,000,000**

When Macao Conbolt arose from his forced slumber, the single father rubbed his eyes and let out a loud groan, before realizing that this was the first time he was actually in control of his own body.

His cobalt blue eyes snapped open in realization and took an immediate inventory of his surroundings. Macao's body was comfortably resting on a large orange blanket next to a now dying fire. The frozen over ceiling of the cave held stalactite like icicles the size of him, one even poised over his own heart, making the blue haired man squirm a little.

Macao turned his head to face the fire, his body was in no condition to move, just what had that crazy ape been doing with his body, he had no idea. Across the burning flames sat a familiar pair of large brown eyes chatting animatedly in hushed tones with a tanned and toned muscular man that seemed to be her age.

"Cana?" He called out in a cracked voice, his throat was destroyed and parched from the dry cold. Macao, the single father tried to sit up, only to fail. "Ow, what happened?" He groaned in pain as he laid back down, clutching his sides.

"Macao!" Cana shouted his name in the closest thing Percy had heard to joy since meeting her as she all but bounded over the fire to the blue haired wizard's side.

"Are you okay?" She asked worriedly. "Can you move?" The son of Poseidon raised a lone eyebrow in confusion, the normally apathetic brunette mage was fawning over Macao and Percy couldn't figure out why.

"You alright man?" Percy asked, putting his questions aside in order to help a more important cause.

"Yeah I'm fine, just help me sit up." He wheezed and the brunette bombshell immediately rushed to his aide, helping the older man up into a sitting position, however when her slender arms released his upper torso, the blue haired mage's body slumped forward with the lack of support. Cana made to reach for him again but he gently turned her hands away with his own. "I'm fine, I'm fine." He promised the brown-eyed girl as he managed to finally right himself.

"I'm just finding it hard to breathe." He finally admitted, as Cana turned to Percy and glared daggers into his every fiber of existence from her spot next to the blue haired wizard, Macao had managed to lift his head long enough to look at Cana's rueful expression and follow her gaze to the mysterious black haired boy.

Percy wisely stayed silent and didn't try to defend himself.

He turned to his eyes Macao instead only to find the blue haired mage was reciprocating the stare, albeit a lot nicer and a lot more curiosity laced in the black onyx irises. His gaunt features was the result of a multitude of things whether it have been Percy slamming him into a wall, twenty Vulcans ganging up on him or a lack of eating or sleeping as Vulcans often ran their hosts to death before finding a new one. All in all the blue haired mage reminded the son of Poseidon of his Uncle Hades if the god of the Underworld had a midlife crisis and dyed his hair blue.

Wouldn't put it past anyone in his family really.

Macao's dark eyes broke contact with Percy's sea green ones as he made his way down to the metal flask sitting in the mysterious black haired kids hand as it rested in his lap. Subconsciously the single father licked his chapped lips in utter desperation, he hadn't eaten or drank in a week. "Can I have some of that water?" The blue haired mage all but pleaded for the sake of his pride if nothing else.

The rookie Fairy Tail mage looked down at his open flask, yet another item he had borrowed from the Guildmaster. Inside, about halfway full was melted down snow water, that had been boiled overnight and later returned to its refreshing coolness thanks to the harsh conditions outside.

The demigod was a little miffed that he couldn't even get his mouth open to say "Sure, no problem." and hand the flask over before Cana interrupted him with a glare. "Of course he can, can't he Percy?"

Percy however took it in stride. "I don't see why not." The demigod answered as he handed the stainless steel flask across the fire, first it went to Cana, whose brown eyes lingered with a dirty look as she took the flask. After that the brown haired mage began to fuss over the blue haired wizard, checking his wounds, holding the flask for him, even going so far as to brush some dirt off his face.

'What the hell was that for.' The son of Poseidon thought as he watched Cana fuss over Macao. 'Did she think I wasn't going to give it to him? Why is she acting like this?' These questions riddled through his head as he tried desperately to get to a conclusion, his black brows furrowed in deep thought.

"Ohhh." Percy realized as he slapped closed fist into his open palm, making both of them look up at him and away from each other. "You.." The words 'like him' died on his lips as Cana's eyes became brown molten fury, threatening him to continue. "You. You." Percy stuttered trying to find an excuse, coming up with nothing he said. "You need me to go now." The reason for Cana's sudden change in mood been solved. He was glad it was nothing he did otherwise Percy would've been there forever trying to figure out how he had pissed her off. Percy had no issue leaving the cave for the two's sake, it was getting awkward enough now that he realized what exactly was going on.

The black haired demigod exited the cave and began to comb his way through the woods and knee high snow that had fallen over night, soaking his shoes, socks and jeans in the process. He didn't seem to mind however as he took in the beauty of nature after everything was blanketed in white. The son of Poseidon made sure to keep close enough to remember where the cave was but far enough to give the two their space.

He came across a clearing with a lot of tracks coming through it. With a lot of effort by way of trudging through the snow, he made his way over to one. Sea green eyes scanned the footprint left behind by the strange animal. Whatever it was is was massive, the footprint was bigger than Percy's size elevens, that and it seemed to be quite human-like, right down to the five little toes at the front of the foot.

The son of Poseidon's brain began to work overtime to put two and two together. 'Wait a second. Macao was supposed to clear out a group of twenty or so vulcans right? So that means that those ape-like creatures are a plenty around here. Not to mention that when he fought the one that took over Macao it was bigger than Percy, meaning also bigger than his size eleven foot.'

So… by that logic he came to the conclusion that a vulcan made these tracks and it stood to reason that there were, ten, twelve, maybe even fifteen judging by the number of tracks that littered the clearing.

The demigod's eyes widened as he realized that he had left an injured man and Cana alone to possibly face of those vulcans and turned quickly to hustle back to the cave.

Percy didn't even make it a step til he came face to face with a soaring tree trunk. Riptides bronze blade had sprung forth from his waist, the pen had been quickdrawn from his pocket as he cut through an entire tree like butter, both halves crashing into the snow on either side behind him.

Standing at the edge of the clearing where Percy had come from stood a vulcan, one almost double the size that Macao had taken so it easily dwarved the son of Poseidon. It chest heaved up and down as it panted angrily. Next to the beast was a crater where the vulcan had ripped the tree out of, roots and all. A couple of worms wriggled around in the cold after being exposed, they soon died.

The son of Poseidon stood there, watching him and the other twenty or so vulcans that came out at different points at the edge of the clearing, effectively surrounding him.

The big guy that had thrown the tree at him finally caught his breath after the physical exertion. It began to sniff the air. "Smell like… Jeffrey." The vulcan fixed him with a cold stare. "You kill Jeffrey?"

Percy took the opening like a golden ticket as a lightbulb clicked over his head. He had no idea who Jeffrey was, maybe it was even the vulcan who took over Macao, but if he could keep these apes busy and more importantly away from Cana and Macao then they would be safe and ignorant to the threat outside.

With a deep breath Percy activated his shield and got into a ready position, the snow began to bubble and melt, making it easier for Percy to manipulate. Suddenly a massive hand of slush and ice grew from behind the demigod, it made a sweeping motion behind him effectively disposing of the enemies at his back.

"Yes." Percy smirked. "I kill Jeffrey."

The head vulcan roared and began to run at the son of Poseidon, it padded foot barely putting a dent in the snow, the black haired demigod morphed the icy hand into a wave, his bronze sword held high as he met the charge head on with a battle cry of his own.

 **-X- Current Debt: -15,000,000**

The tensions left with the demigod as Macao Conbolt greedily quaffed down the deliciously ice cold water.

When the blue haired wizard finally remembered to breathe the frigid metal opening parted with his lips, gravity stopping all flow of the clear liquid as the canteen was righted. Cana watched this scene in amusement, her lips twitching up every once in a while before she masked her emotions only for the process to repeat.

"What?" Macao asked, the contagious smile forming on his face.

"Nothing." Cana said, just staring happily at the blue haired mage she had been crushing on since she was a little girl, a small blush formed on her cheeks.

Macao to another sip of the demigod's flask, albeit a lot more gently this time where he wasn't robbed of his vital air. "So, what happened while I was gone?" The single father asked good-naturedly as he screwed the cap back onto the flask.

Cana launched herself into a full explanation of the past week's events, starting with basic stuff like Natsu and Gray getting into fights, Erza leaving on mission, then more somber things like Romeo's despair at the fact his father was missing, then the treacherous trek the two put up to get here, the fight against Macao himself in vulcan form and then the patching him up.

The single father's cheeks became home to a small rivulet for his tears, oh how he missed his son, maybe if he wasn't such a deadbeat dad he might of not been in this position where Romeo was getting picked on for his father's occupation.

Trying to change the subject in a shotty attempt to hide his tears he asked. "Who's the new guy?"

"His name is Prissy, just joined yesterday."

The blue haired mage began to let out a very childish snicker unbefitting of the deep frown on his face. "Who the hell names their kid Prissy? God, his parents must have hated him."

Cana shared a chuckle with him, allowing the slip up of his name to pass if it meant it got Macao laughing. "I don't know." She mused, wondering what Percy's face would look like if Macao called him that sometime in the future.

Macao's laughter finally subsided, he began to toy with the flask, unscrewing and screwing the cap repeatedly. "Well is he any good?" The single father asked in a slightly more serious tone than before, evaluations were no laughing matter after all.

The female mage tapped her chin in deep thought as her face took on a look of contemplation. She had only seen the boy fight once, and that was against Macao, other than that he seemed resourceful enough with medical and survival knowledge. The newbie also seemed to have some thick skin, all the name calling and life threatening she had put him through in only a single day didn't deter the son of Poseidon from working with her at all.

"Yeah, yeah he's pretty good."

That's when the topic of conversation entered, completely covered in snow and pine needles. His hair had it especially bad as the tiny green stems got tangled in the black messy hair as he shook like a dog to release it, the poor rookie finally doing so he looked at the two people who sat at the fire he created. It was the older mage who noticed him first. Wiping a stray tear from his eye he stood up to wave the demigod over.

"Prissy, we were just talking about you. Thanks a lot for fixing me up, we should get a drink sometime."

Percy looked past the the blue haired gentlemen and his sea green eyes bore into Cana's. He raised an eyebrow at her and she began to flame red as Macao called him 'Prissy'. But there was obviously something else he was missing here, Macao's acting was almost as bad as the demigod's mathematical skills, that is to say, none at all. "No problem." He said, finally looking at Macao, then he added as an afterthought. "And it's Percy, not Prissy."

"Oh." Macao said as his eyes shifted over to a red Cana as his face gained back some of its usually joval expression. "I see."

"Mhm." Percy hummed in agreement, not knowing what that meant at all, but playing along anyways. "As do I."

Whatever rebuttal the sharp witted girl no doubt had at the ready was interrupted by a massive roar echoing throughout the woods.

The two cave-dwellers watched as Percy's head snapped over his shoulder so quick he might as well have gotten whiplash. He cursed in a language that the two had never heard of before before turning back. "Macao, you're good right. Like you can walk and talk just fine correct?" The rookie asked hurriedly as he made his way to the fire and began packed his bag with a scary amount of fervor and speed.

"Uhh, I've had better days, but I think I'll do just fine why?" The blue haired mage responded as his eyes followed Percy as he darted around the camp, packing things he needed and throwing aside other things that would weigh him down.

"Good, because we gotta go."

"Percy." Cana growled as she finally seemed to grasp her verbal footing. "What did you do."

Another roar was heard, this one much louder, and closer than the last.

"Nothing." The son of Poseidon answered quickly. "Can we just go now."

He had managed to push the two outside when a reduced number of vulcans came out of the woods, nearly seven or eight of them. "Damn." Percy cursed as he tightened the straps on his bag and drew Riptide, the three foot long bronze blade appearing from nowhere. "I thought they would've stayed down longer."

"You kill Jeffrey!" One shouted.

"And Michael!" One said, referring to their leader, the tall one that had tossed a tree at Percy earlier.

"And put water up nose!" Another bellowed.

"You're an equip mage?" Macao stated as he looked at Percy's sword. Blue flames erupted from his hands as he took a step forward. "I'm a fire mage myself. You can leave this to me, I've got a thirst for revenge anyways."

The son of Poseidon matched him by stepping forward as well. "No can do old man, you were just out of commission and there's no way I'm letting you take them all on alone."

"Half and half?" The blue haired mage suggested.

"There's an odd number."

"Then I'll race you to the last one."

Before Percy could retort or make a move in confirmation he was yanked back by the collar of his shirt, nearly choking him, he looked to his left and saw Macao in the same position he was. Cana was dragging both of them by the collar as she made her way across the snow and away from the vulcan beasts, making sure to keep her hands low enough to have both of the two end up with facefulls of snow. "You two can measure your dicks later, let's get out of here."

"But the vulcans…." Macao trailed off as he saw the apes dead in their tracks steaming over three of Cana's 'sexy lady' cards.

"Clever girl." Percy muttered as Cana dropped the two of them and they crawled back to their feet, both rubbing their sore necks.

The brown haired girl rolled her large doe eyes. "Let's go you two."

"Yes ma'am." The two answered in unison, in Percy's case with a hand raised in salute.

 **-X- Current Debt: -15,000,000**

Percy shifted uneasily by the door as he watched his two companions jump in and accept their host's hospitality without question or hesitation. The demigod looked around the one room building, Macao had taken them there to collect the reward for killing all of those vulcans that terrorized the farmland surrounding the base of the mountain. To his right were two straw beds, covered in various animal pelts that were unfamiliar to a newcomer like himself, some were beige with purple stripes, or a black one with small splotches of orange across the middle.

Weird ass pelts indeed, he couldn't wait to meet these kinds of animals when they were alive.

Images of a tiger with purple stripes, or a bear with orange spots assaulted his head as he continued to survey the room.

Directly across the small room was a roaring fire that warmed Percy to the bone. At its base a small, dainty blonde sat, adding various spices and herbs to the third serving of stew that bubbled in the cooking pot. Whenever she tasted her creation, she seemed dissatisfied and got back to work, perfecting minute details probably only she could find.

At the table Cana and Macao sat with the two children of their hosts, as they had for the past thirty minutes, with their bowls cleaned out and their mouths open and asking for more. The son of Poseidon fought valiantly to suppress the growl erupting from his stomach and just only held off this time. How much longer of this enticing scent could he resist before he gave in and also began to take from these poor farmer's food?

The black haired demigod feared it wouldn't be long as he could his iron will begin to crumble.

Small squelches could be heard from outside as leather boots stomped through the mud, the harsh snow turning into windy squalls as they had descended down the mountain, naturally the rain didn't end until their goal was insight. Cana had grumbled something about Percy being bad luck but to the son of Poseidon, it was basically Christmas as he had let himself get wet.

The door slammed open as Percy, who had heard the footsteps, moved aside to next to the table were his companions sat. In stepped a hulking beast of a man, with well trimmed jet black hair that mirrored Percy's own and a full grown beard, he had to duck his large frame under the doorway just to get in.

In his hand was a large bag of money.

"Sorry." The man said with a chuckle, his genuine apology not matching his looks whatsoever "When you didn't come back after the first five days or so I gave all the money back to the other villagers in the town. You should've seen the looks on their faces when I came knocking on their doors looking for their money once again."

"Dalton." Macao said as he raised his full tankard to the large farmer. "It's no problem, you more than made up for it with your hospitality, if anything I should be thanking you."

Dalton waved him off, a slightly more serious tone as he handed the blue haired mage the money and sat at and empty seat at the table, staring Macao in the eyes. "From what you guys tell me, you need it more than I do. When I was a kid, my uncle had gotten taken over by a vulcan, ran him to death even. When we found his body, all that was left was a husk of corpse, like they had sucked the fat right from underneath the skin."

The single father adopted a contemplative expression as he thought of his son Romeo ever experiencing the same horrors Dalton had. In an attempt to keep the mood light he said softly into his cup. "Well it's a good thing these two saved me."

A loud burp was all he got in response.

It was from Fairy Tail's resident drinker, Cana Alberona, who after three days of going sober, snapped as the brown haired girl began to guzzle down the family's entire stock of alcohol. Wine, beer, rum, it didn't seemed to matter as long as it got her buzzed. She slammed the tankard down, completing the ring of cups around her seat at the table she had created.

"I'll drink to that." She said red faced, before turning to the child next to her. "Kiddo, fill me up!" The wizardess angrily demanded of a seven year old.

Whose dad was sitting right across from them, and what's more seemed to be encouraging this sort of behavior as he called into the his son who was descending into the cellar with all of Cana's cups.

"Merc." He said, using his son's nickname.

Merc looked back, the dozen or so metal tankards jingling as he did. "Yeah dad?"

"Make sure one of those is for me." Dalton said with a wink.

Merc rolled his eyes as he continued down the stairs, Dalton sat back chuckling when he felt Percy's almost unbelievable stare on him.

The black haired farmer turned to meet the green hurricanes this boy liked to call eyes. "You're not hungry?" He asked after a brief staring contest.

"No." Percy lied, in the most normal voice he could squeak out.

"You're lying." Dalton said, it wasn't a question. The room went silent at this declaration, as Macao stared at Percy and Dalton inquisitively while Cana sat down her bowl and looked at the son of Poseidon as well. Even she could tell that her 'partner' was a horrible liar even after only a day or two with him. Her large brown eyes honed on to his face, trying to discern his motives for lying about trivial things like hunger.

The black haired demigod never even got to defend himself as the beast of a man launched into another story of his childhood. "When I was a boy, my father took me hunting, except he didn't come with me. After we set up camp in the middle of the woods, my father told me that I was to kill my own game if I wanted a meal that day. Three days I went without food before I collapsed from exhaustion, and my father finally cracked and saved me. I didn't even catch anything." He said with a chuckle.

Three different sets of eyes stared at him in confusion.

Dalton laughed nervously as he realized he forgot to mention how it tied into the current predicament before getting serious for a moment. "The point is, I know hungry eyes when I see it, because I lived it, I saw it every time I glanced at a stream and saw my reflection, and I see it now in your eyes. You don't have to worry about us boy, we'll be well off soon enough when harvest rolls around."

The son of Poseidon's stomach roared out unrestricted for the first time today, howling in pain and agony that was being empty of food and nutrients. His black unruly hair shadowed his eyes as he blushed red in embarrassment.

Dalton laughed loudly. "Even your own body agrees with me." The older farmer said jovally before getting up, he motioned to an empty chair with the sweep of his large arms. "Sit I'll get you some stew." He said as he walked over to the fireplace and his wife who slaved over the stew. "Move aside woman." And with a gentle shove she was out of the way. Dalton nabbed the ladle out of her small hands and took a large scoop of the steaming food.

A panicked look crossed her face as she began to pound on the large man's back. "Wait!" She yelled desperately. "It's not ready yet! It'll taste horrible!" The wife began to cry.

Dalton turned around, and making eye contact with his wife, placed the serving spoon in his mouth, she wept incessantly until a hum of approval interrupted her. "Edith." He said softly, the quietest he had been all day.

"You hate it don't you?"

"It's by far your best yet."

She began to blush, wiping away her tears with her apron. "You're just saying that."

He rolled his eyes. "Of course not. I would never lie to you." Saying his piece, he picked the piping hot cauldron off the open fire with a woolen mitt, bringing the stew to the table he turned away from his wife and with his free hand he rolled the spoon like a pointer around his temple in the universal sign of. 'This person is crazy.'

Macao and Percy chuckled as they were served while Cana fiddled absentmindedly with her spoon, waves of guilt crashing over her. Before her mom had passed and she had been placed into the hands of Gildarts Clive, more like the hands of Fairy Tail, she and her mother had not been better off than this. She remembered watching her mother struggle to provide for them even at a young age as early as she was before she left.

Now here she was, drinking and eating away without a care in the world. The only one that seemed to think more than in the moment was Percy, the damn rookie showing her up once again as he was the only one who thought about caring for their hosts.

The brown eyed girl felt sick to her stomach with self-disgust as she lost her appetite at the moment. Cana felt horrible.

A small klink brought her out of her self-loathing as she blinked to see her tankards that the little boy had gone down with, Merc his name was, return, looking at her expectantly as he pushed a cup towards her without a word.

Her lips quirked and her mouth felt dry, the wizardess could feel her will wither as the seconds painlessly ticked by. Finally she broke and grabbed the cup from the silver eyed boy, giving him a small smile.

Maybe a little more wouldn't hurt.

 **-X- Current Debt: -15,000,000**

Percy sighed as he laid out under the moon and stars, the clouds and rain from before parting ways to give light to the pale shining beacon. The boys, Macao and Percy with the addition of their host Dalton had been kicked out of the house by the wife Edith to make way for Cana and the children.

The trio of merry whipped men had found a relatively dry spot under a rocky overhang and decided to set camp there, a once roaring fire was reduced to little more than embers now in the late hours of the night as Macao sat over it, the only one left upright as Dalton snored away obliviously, his back to the fire.

The fire mage's cobalt blue eyes stared intently into the crackling fire, the only source of sound in the relatively quiet space. The red, orange glow reflected of his irises, creating a faint, eery purple. The thoughts on his mind had plagued him for as long as she had been around and he was just waiting for the right person to come along for him to push her off to.

He figured once she became of age she would create or join a team to do missions and that would be the end of her hopeless crush but she actually started joining him and Wakaba on some of their missions instead much to the blue haired mage's ire and the smoke mage's sadistic glee.

For the daft, he was of course talking about Cana.

He took and inward cringe and a deep breath as he metally shored his defenses for the conversation ahead.

With a deep exhale he opened his mouth.

"Hey Prissy." Macao said, not even bothering to look at the green eyed boy laying down a couple feet away. When he finally mustered up the courage, he was met with a blank stare one that told him he had already fucked up. The fire mage began to panic, not knowing what he had done wrong before a metaphorical lightbulb popped over his head and he amended himself. "Sorry, Percy."

Percy smiled as he sat up, crossing his legs then spinning to face the fire mage and his fire. "I'm going to kill her if that nickname sticks again." He commented dryly.

"Again?" Macao asked as he blinked his blue eyes owlishly, getting sidetracked once more.

The son of Poseidon waved him off dismissively. "Long story." He said. "What's up?"

Macao smiled sheepishly, he now had gotten the demigod's attention but couldn't find the words to keep it so. "Well, there's no easy way for me to say this without me coming out like a jackass soo…" He trailed off at the end.

"Just come out with it." The demigod said with a light shrug.

"Ok. Well….."

Percy watched with a small smile on his face as the blue haired mage tried to form the right words, he poured over all he knew about Macao who sat right next to him. Frankly, it wasn't much. He knew the mage had an affinity for blue fire when he threatened to light up the vulcans on Mt. Hakobe, let's see, he had a son around eleven or maybe even six ( _That's for you AACM25_ ) Percy wasn't really sure, he was never good at guessing ages anyhow. The last thing he knew about his companion around the fire wasn't even about him, well it was in a way but not really.

"Cana likes you." Percy blurted out as he stared into the fire, his ears growing hot as he realized he just said that out loud.

Macao stopped his incoherent stammering and looked at Percy with blank eyes.

"That's what I was trying to get at."

"Oh." Percy said as he looked up from the fire, he tried to choose his next words as carefully as possible. "Well do you like her back?"

"Not in the way she wants me to." He answered with a dry chuckle.

"Why not?"

Macao scratched the back of his head. "Its just weird you know, I've known her since she was just a little kid, and it's hard for me not to see her like that. I wanna tell her off but I don't want her to hate me."

"I get it."

The single father looked at Percy for explanation.

"When I was fourteen there was this girl named Rachael who liked me." His black brows furrowed in thought as he added. "At least I think she did. Anyways I liked this other girl named Annabeth and it was really hard to tell her that I didn't like her like that. But I think she got over it pretty well, so it all worked out in the end."

"What'd she do when you told her?"

"She swore her life to a sun deity and became an eternal virgin."

…

…

…

"That' pretty well?" Macao asked in shock.

"I think you're missing the point." Percy chuckled. "The point is she got over it, she moved on and we're still really close friends with one another."

The blue haired wizard seemed to take that new nugget of information into deep thought before talking. "I'm seeing this other lady now, and I like her, I really do, sooner or later I want to break it to the guild that were together."

"Cana will be sad to hear that."

"That's what I'm afraid of." Macao admitted. "When this does happen, and it will, if not with the girl now than a different one later will you take her out, show her a good time and that there is more to the world than just me."

"The son of Poseidon sighed. "You really can't give her a chance?"

Macao shook his head sadly.

...

Percy snorted after a short period of silence. "You did sound like a jackass for the record. Macao opened his mouth to defend himself but the son of Poseidon beat him to it. "You're not royalty and she's not your daughter, you can't just sell her off like an object, but still I get what you're trying to say though."

"So will you do it?" Macao asked, a hopeful gleam in his cobalt eyes.

"No." Percy shot down that plane before it could even take off without sugarcoating it. There was no doubt he would comfort his partner if she needed it or even picked him over all her other friends more intuned with their feelings than he was but that's where the partnership would end. He stood up and brushed off his pants. "I've had enough of a love life for four of me, I don't need it any more complicated than it already is."

Thoughts of Annabeth ran through his head as he left Macao with those parting words, making his way to his sleeping bag a few yards away. What were they now that he was gone? Would she wait for him to find a way back, or move on before he could return?

Could he even return in the first place was perhaps a better question.

The son of Poseidon sighed as he looked up at the sky. His sea green eyes traced over the constellation Hercules. When he was younger he had always looked to the strongman's stars as a source of anti-inspiration. As if to say _Hey, at least I'm not as unlucky as he is._ But the more and more he learned about the son of Zeus after becoming a demigod he realized that he probably deserved everything he got and then some.

Percy closed his eyes as he got down and stretched out on the sleeping bag, it was too humid to be inside it in the middle of July now that they were down from the mountain, it was nice to sleep under the stars.

Green eyes snapped open.

Wait. Hercules?

Like the hero very much from Earth and not this world?

His eyes scanned the sky as he shot into a sitting position, rattling off all the familiar constellations he could find. "Scorpius the scorpion, Draco the dragon, Apus the bird of paradise, Corona Borealis the northern crown. They're all here, why are they all here?" But the son of Poseidon was looking for one in particular.

Percy frowned when he realized why he couldn't find the huntress, it was the middle of the summer and Zoe didn't come out until the new year around January where she could be seen with her bow pointed right at the back of Orion.

A sudden thought crossed his mind. 'Would she even be there, that's was an Earthly goddess' fault she was there in the first place, but then again pretty much all the constellations were tied to Greek mythology.' In Percy's mind however it was different because he was actually there, he had witnessed the creation of the constellation in person.

The black haired demigod settle back into a sleeping position, but kept his eyes open. "I'll keep looking for a way home until January, if Zoe's constellation is there I'll continue, if not…

Then I'll move on from home."

 **Pretty fast update wasn't it**


End file.
